Sandy Spring Bank Has $4.02 Million Stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Sandy Spring Bank reduced its stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 70,922 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,116 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Unilever were worth $4,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UL. Stokes Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Unilever during the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Unilever in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Brooklyn FI LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unilever during the fourth quarter worth $511,000. ProVise Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 172,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,809,000 after purchasing an additional 7,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unilever by 94.1% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after buying an additional 16,266 shares during the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Unilever Stock Performance

UL opened at $59.26 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. Unilever PLC has a 52 week low of $46.46 and a 52 week high of $65.87.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.4674 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on UL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.33.

Unilever Profile

Unilever PLC operates as a fast-moving consumer goods company in the Asia Pacific, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through five segments: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition, and Ice Cream. The Beauty & Wellbeing segment engages in the sale of hair care products, such as shampoo, conditioner, and styling; skin care products including face, hand, and body moisturizer; and prestige beauty and health & wellbeing products consist of the vitamins, minerals, and supplements.